The Square Stand is a piece of hardware that transforms an iPad tablet into a digital point-of-sale system that would replace traditional cash registers. It starts at $299. / Square

by Jon Swartz and Brett Molina, USA TODAY

by Jon Swartz and Brett Molina, USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO -- Mobile-payments start-up Square has designs on reinventing the cash register.

On Tuesday, it unfurled Square Stand, a special piece of hardware that transforms an iPad tablet into a digital point-of-sale system that would replace traditional cash registers.

"Hardware makes software better," Square co-founder Jack Dorsey said at a press conference at a Blue Bottle Coffee near Square's original headquarters here.

"Customers of merchants (using Stand) never have to think about payments," he said.

Square Stand works with Square Register, the mobile app that turns an Apple iOS or Google Android device into a mobile payment system when paired with a credit card reader.

The Square Stand features a built-in card reader, and connects to accessories such as receipt printers or bar-code scanners. The hardware will work on second- and third-generation iPads, with a version for fourth-generation tablets arriving later this year.

The swiveling stand will sell for $299, and is available today through Square's website. Best Buy and other retailers will carry the 9-inch, 5-pound Stand in July.

Stand is likely to first pop up in coffee shops, where Square Readers have a strong presence and are most often used.

The pivot stand could end up at a local Starbucks as part of Square's expansive deal with the coffee giant. In October, the companies announced a technology-sharing agreement at the chain's 7,000 stores nationwide.

Square says it processes more than $15 billion in mobile payments through its service each year, and iPad usage is growing. Nearly half of processed payments come from iPad users.

The Stand arrives as more businesses are starting to use mobile-payment services such as Square and competing products from PayPal and Intuit. According to a forecast from research firm Forrester, mobile payments in the U.S. are expected to hit $90 billion by 2017.

Cash registers are "not the sexiest thing" in the world, Dorsey says. "More important than how (Stand) looks is how it works."